Lightbridge receives notice of allowance from USPTO for fuel element technology

Lightbridge (LTBR)announced that it has received a notice of allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for U.S. Patent Application No. 18/383,668, titled “Fuel Assembly.” The application covers 16 claims directed to fuel assemblies and nuclear reactors incorporating Lightbridge’s proprietary spirally twisted, multi-lobed fuel element technology, designed for pressurized heavy-water reactors, including CANDU-type designs. The allowed claims describe a fuel assembly comprising a plurality of elongated fuel elements, each having a spirally twisted, multi-lobed profile that defines a plurality of spiral ribs. Each fuel element includes a fuel kernel with fissile material disposed in a matrix of metal non-fuel material, surrounded by cladding, with a moderator-to-fuel ratio of 2.4 or less. The patent encompasses both the fuel assembly itself and a nuclear reactor incorporating the assembly in a pressurized heavy water reactor.